Donatello's David had gold-leaf highlights

FLORENCE, Italy, March 17 (UPI) -- Donatello's Renaissance-era David was originally adorned with gold leaf, laser technology used to clean the nude bronze in Florence has revealed.

The famous statue is undergoing its first major restoration in more than a century at the Bargello Museum, the Daily Telegraph (Britain) reported Monday.

The public is welcome to watch as workers use a medical-grade laser to clean the statue, which was the first free-standing nude bronze created since classical times, the newspaper said.

"We did not want to hide the statue for 18 months, so we put the work on view. People are fascinated to see what normally happens in a lab," said Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, the museum's director.

Restoration of the front of the statue is finished and workers predict they will have the other side done by the end of the year.

Chief restorer Ludovica Nicolai told the Telegraph the project has confirmed suspicions Donatello used gold leaf to highlight David's flowing locks and other features.

"We have almost finished the front of the statue, and we have found traces of gold leaf on his right sandal, on the helmet of Goliath, and on David's hair," Nicolai said.